Signal knob



Feb. 10, 1942. FANTL 2,272,909

SIGNAL KNOB Filed Oct. 17, 1940 Patented Feb. 10, 1942 16* Claims.

This invention relates to signal devices for use in connection with door locks and latches, and one object of the invention is to provide a new and improved indicating signal for denoting whether a locking device is adjusted in looking or in release position.

Another object of the invention is to provide signal means for use in a door lock and including a signal element mounted in the knob of the door where it will be most readily noticeable and visible to anyone about to open the door.

A further object is to provide a door locking mechanism of simplified construction having a spring-pressed latch bolt and a knob arranged to withdraw the bolt when the knob is turned in one direction, and to lock the bolt positively in projected position when the knob is turned in the opposite direction.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a signal device built into a door lock for indicating the condition of the lock and including translucent colored signal means and an illuminating device to render such means readily visible.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawing in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevation of a door equipped with a lock and indicating signal embodying this invention.

Figure 2 is taken as a vertical section in a 1 plane parallel to the face of the door and just inside the lock casing so as to disclose the interior mechanism of the lock and signal device.

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken as indicated at line 33 on Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken as indicated at line i on Figure 2.

In certain situations it is convenient and desirable to have a door equipped with a signal device to show whether it is locked or unlocked, this being of special importance in the case of a door such as a bathroom door, which is customarily kept closed, but which is locked only when the room to which it leads is occupied. With the door standing at closed position the space near it, which is usually in a corridor or hallway, is likely to be rather dark; hence, it is desirable that the signal device be illuminated to render it readily visible. A preferred location for such a signal is in the knob of the door latch itself, so that the signal will be quite certain to come to the attention of anyone about to open the door.

Figure 1 shows fragmentary portions of a door 19 equipped with a knob ii in which there is set a translucent window l2 which may be in the nature of a glass jewel having a prismatic surface, as indicated in the drawing. Figure 2 shows the latch bolt l3 engaging the usual keeper plate l4 secured to the face of the jamb l5 in the usual way. The bolt [3 may be understood as slidably mounted within the case Hi which is fitted into a suitable recess in the body of the door Ill, and the knob I! is carried by a hollow shaft or spindle ll journaled for rotation in one wall E3 of the case it. On the inner side of the door it may be understood that a similar knob, not shown, is mounted on a second hollow spindle [9, which is similarly journaled for rotation in the opposite Wall of the case It.

The latch bolt i3 is of the usual beveled form and is provided with a spring 2i which normally holds it projected in position to engage the keeper plate It whenever the door is closed. A pin 22 projects from the bolt l3, and the spindle l9 carries a cam plate 23 having a substantially radial shoulder, seen at 2d in Figure 2, and adapted to engage the pin 22 for withdrawing the latch bolt i3 when the knob of the spindle i9 is turned in one direction.

A locking lever 25 is fulcrumed on a fixed pivot 26 in the case l6, and the end of the lever is notched at 2'! 'to provide clearance for the bolt I3 when it is slidably shifted to unlocking position. But for positively locking the bolt in projected position the lever 25 may be swung downwardly, as shown in broken outline in Figure 2, so that its extreme end portion 28 engages the inner end of the bolt l3. A spring 29 holds the lever 25 yieldingly in its upper position in which it clears the bolt [3, but the cam plate 23 on the end of the knob spindle i9 is formed with a rounded lobe 3i? which engages a lateral extension 25 on the lever 25 and operates to swing the lever downwardly into locking position when the spindle i9 is turned in counter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2.

The spindle H at the outer side of the door is equipped with a cam plate 35, and it may be understood that this plate is formed with a radial shoulder like the shoulder 2A of the cam 23, to engage the cross-pin 22 of the bolt is for withdrawing the bolt from locking position, but that it does not have any lobe like the lobe 30 and is not adapted to actuate the locking lever 25.

The hub 32 of the lever 25 carries also a pair of arms 33 each of which supports a frame 34 provided with translucent color screens 35 and 36. These screens may be of different colorsfor example, the screen 35 may be green and the screen 36 may be red. As shown in full lines, with the locking lever 25 in upraised or inoperative position, the green screen 35 are registered with the hollow spindles I1 and IQ of the door knobs, but when the locking lever 25 is swung downwardly by the cam lobe 39 for positively locking the latch bolt [3, the arms 33 are rocked through a corresponding angle to swing the red screens 35 into registration with the hollow spindles l! and I9. The arms 33 and the color screens which they support are spaced apart within the case [6, and a small electric lamp bulb 3! is mounted between the color screens and in registration with the hollow spindles I"! and I9. Thus the lamp illuminates either the green screens 35, when the latch bolt is not locked, or the red screens 36, when the locking lever 25 is swung down into locking position. Preferably, the outer ends of the hollow spindles IT and [9 are fitted with glass jewels, as seenat l2, formed with light-difiusing prismatic surfaces so that the red or green glow emanating from the color screens will be efiiciently transmitted to the outer faces of the knobs so as to be readily observable. Thus the outer knob provides a signal indicating whether the door is locked or unlocked, and the inner knob provides a corresponding signal to assure the occupant of the room that the door is locked if the signal shows red, or to remind him that he has left it unlocked if the signal shows green. For supporting the lamp 3'1 in the case [6 there is provided a block of insulating material 38 having a bore into which there is removably inserted a sleeve or tube 49 also of insulating material. Lead wires 4| and 42, supplying a suitable current for the lamp, terminate in contact studs 33 set into the block 38, with their heads exposed in its bore, and the tube ii) is provided with contact strips 44 and :25, one of which terminates in a central contact 4Q for the lamp base, while the other connects with the threaded socket 41 into which the lamp base is secured in the usual manner. A hinged cover plate 48 in the end wall of the case l6 affords access to the tube 48 so that it may be withdrawn from the bore of the block 38 if the lamp 3! should require replacement, and the extra length of the tube 40 may be utilized as a storage space for a spare lamp, as indicated in dotted outline in Figure 2. In order to conserve the life of the lamp 3? and avoid wasting current, the lead wires 4! and 42 may be connected in circuit with any suitable switching device, such as the contacts and 52 at the hinged edge of the door, which are automatically opened, so as to break the circuit when the door is swung to open position. With the door standing open there is no necessity for a signal at the knob, and therefore no need to have the lamp burning until the door is again swung to closed position. Then, as long as the locking lever 25 remains in its upper position, clearing the latch bolt l3, the light transmitted to the knobs will pass through the green color screens 35, but as soon as the inner knob is turned to swing the cam lobe 30 downward, and thus rock the lever 25 into locking position, the color screens 36 will be shifted into alignment with the lamp 37, and red signals will be displayed at the knobs. In order to definitely limit the rotation of either knob, each of the cams 23 and 31 may have a portion of its periphery notched to form stop shoulders 53 and 54 to cooperate with a stop pin 55 fixed in the case.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and re-arrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the same is not limited to the particular form herein shown and described, except in so far as indicated by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a lock which includes a .case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a locking member in the case adjustable at will to engage said bolt and hold it projected in locking position, said case having a window, a signal member movable within the case by said locking member and having a pair of translucent differently colored signal areas positioned for alternative display at said window in accordance with the adjustment of the locking member, and a lamp disposed within the case to illuminate the signal area displayed.

2. In a lock which includes a case with a springpressed latch bolt therein, a pivoted locking member adjustable at will to engage said bolt and hold it in looking position, said case having a window, an arm rigidly connected to said pivoted locking member and a pair of color screens supported by said arm positioned for alternative registration with said window in accordance with the adjustment of the locking member, together with a lamp disposed in the case to illuminate the color screen registered with the window.

3. In a lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a manually operable member journaled in the case and engageable with the bolt for withdrawing it when rotated in one direction, means operable by rotation of said member in the opposite direction to lock the bolt in projected position, said member having a signal display window, signal means positioned for display at said window, and means actuated by rotation of the member to change the color of the signal displayed in accordance with the direction in which the member is rotated.

4. In a lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, an operating knob journaled in the case and engageable with the bolt for withdrawing it when rotated in one direction, locking means operable by rotation of said knob in the opposite direction to lock the bolt in projected position, said knob having a signal display window, a signal member movable by the locking member and having a pair of translucent, differently colored signal areas positioned for alternative display in registration with the window of the knob in accordance with the adjustment of the locking member, and a lamp disposed in the case to illuminate the signal area displayed.

5. In a lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a locking member adjustable to engage said bolt and hold it projected in locking position, a manually operable member iournaled in the case having a part within the case engageable with the bolt for withdrawing it when said member is rotated in one direction, and cam means operable by rotation of said member in the opposite direction to move the locking member into locking position, said manual member having a signal display window, signal means positioned for display at said Window, and means actuated by rotation of said member to change the color of the signal dis played at said window in accordance with the direction in which the member is rotated.

6. In a lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a manually operable knob journaled in the case, a cam within the case rigidly engaged with the knob, said bolt having an abutment and said cam having a shoulder engageable with the abutment for withdrawing the bolt when the knob is rotated in one direction, a pivoted locking lever in the case, said cam being formed to engage the lever and swing it into position to, hold the bolt projected in locking position when the knob is rotated in the opposite direction, said knob having a signal display window, signal means positioned for display at said window, and means actuated by rotation of the knob to change the color of the signal displayed in accordance with the direction in which the knob is rotated.

7. In a lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a manually operable knob journaled in the case, a cam within the case rigidly engaged with the knob, said bolt having an abutment and said cam having a shoulder engageable with the abutment for withdrawing the bolt when the knob is rotated in one direction, a pivoted locking lever in the case, said cam being formed to engage the lever and swing it into position to hold the bolt projected in locking position when the knob is rotated in the opposite direction, said knob having a signal display window, a pivoted arm supporting a pair of color screens and arranged for actuation with said locking member for registering said color screens alternatively with the window of the knob, and a lamp disposed in the case to project its light through the color screen registered with the window.

8. In a door lock which includes a case with a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a knob at the inner side of the door journaled in the case, means in the case operable by the knob for withdrawing the bolt when rotated in one direction and operable by rotation in the opposite direction to lock the bolt in projected position, a second knob at the outer side of the door journaled in the case and provided With means inside the case operable for withdrawing the bolt but not for locking it, each of said knobs having a signal display window, said windows being disposed substantially in alignment, a lamp in the case positioned to illuminate both windows, and a pair of color screens movable in planes extending re-' spectively between the lamp and said windows, together with means actuated by rotation of the inner knob to locking position for shifting said color screens in their planes into registration with the windows respectively.

9. In combination with a hinged door, a lock therefor which includes a case mounted in the door and a spring-pressed latch bolt therein, a locking member adjustable at will to engage said bolt and hold it projected in locking poistion, said case having a window, a signal member movable by said locking member and having a pair of translucent, differently colored signal areas positioned for alternative display at said window in accordance with the adjustment of the locking member, an electric lamp disposed in the case to illuminate the signal area displayed, lead wires for connecting said lamp with a source of electric current, and switch means operable by the door to open the lamp circuit when the door is swung about its hinges toward open position.

10. In a door lock which includes a case with a locking bolt therein, a manually operable member extending from one side of the door and journaled in the case, means operable by rotation of said member to lock the bolt in projected position, a knob projecting from the other side of the door and provided with a signal display window, a lamp in the case positioned to illuminate said window, and a color screen mounted for movement in a plane extending between the lamp and said window, together with means actuated by the movement of said locking means to locking position and serving to shift the said color screen into registration with the window of the knob.

ELMER A. FANTL. 

